Institutional Talk
Definition
Conversation that takes place within an institutional context (courtroom, interview room, medical consultation) and is shaped by that context: one participant controls the floor and the topic agenda in ways ordinary conversation does not permit.
- Field
- Forensic linguistics, conversation analysis
- Settings
- Courtroom, interview room, medical consultation
- Key feature
- Asymmetric control of floor and topic
- Contrasted with
- Ordinary conversation
Common questions
How does institutional talk affect the analysis of a police interview transcript?+
Because the interviewing officer typically controls turn-taking and topic shifts, analysts examine question design and interruption patterns to assess whether the structure itself shaped or constrained what the interviewee was able to say.
Why is the asymmetry in institutional talk treated as a structural feature rather than a sign of misconduct?+
The asymmetry arises from the institutional role itself, a magistrate or clinician is expected to direct the exchange, so analysts distinguish this normal structural control from cases where an officer additionally uses the asymmetry to pressure or mislead.
Related terms
- Code-Switching
- Shifting between different registers or even different languages within an interaction, often as a signal of role or authority. An interviewer who...
- Leading Question
- A question that signals or contains the expected answer. 'You were angry, weren't you?' is leading because the expected answer is embedded....
- Presupposition
- Information built into a question as a taken-for-granted background assumption. Asking 'Why did you go back?' presupposes the person went back. The...
- Reformulation
- An interviewer's restatement of what the interviewee just said, often shorter or differently framed. If the interviewee does not correct it, the...
- Turn-Taking Asymmetry
- The structural imbalance in a police interview where the officer holds nearly all the conversational rights: who asks, who answers, when a...